Build the Party in the Course Of Struggle

WE are warmly celebrating the 55th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China today when great victories have been scored in the struggle to repulse the Right deviationist attempt at reversing correct verdicts. Under the leadership of our great leader Chairman Mao, our Party has led hundreds of millions of people in winning the victory of the new-democratic revolution and in achieving victories in the socialist revolution and socialist construction. During the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, we have smashed the schemes of Liu Shao-chi, Lin Plao and Teng Hsiao-ping to subvert the dictatorship of the proletariat and restore capitalism, and criticized their counter-revolutionary revisionist line. More united and vigorous and with greater fighting strength than ever, our Party is leading the people of all nationalities in the country in continuing their advance along the socialist road. We have won great victories. However, very arduous tasks still confront us. Our Party is the vanguard of the proletariat. Its basic programme is the complete overthrow of the bourgeoisie and all other exploiting classes, the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat in place of the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie, the triumph of socialism over capitalism and the ultimate realization of communism. The whole Party will have to wage protracted struggle in order to realize this programme. Only if we bear in mind the Party's basic programme, uphold its basic line and never lose sight of its ultimate aim can we successfully solve the question of Party building under the dictatorship of the proletariat. It is of utmost importance in the period of socialism to have clarity both in theory and practice on the question that the bourgeoisie exists "right in the Communist Party." In the current struggle against the Right deviationist attempt, Chairman Mao made an incisive analysis of this question, thus developing Marxism-Leninism. In 1964 Chairman Mao pointed out in a directive concerning the socialist education movement: "The bureaucrat class on the one hand and the working class together with the poor and lower-middle peasants on the other art-two classes sharply antagonistic to each other." Chairman Mao further pointed out: "Management itself is a matter of socialist education. If the managerial staff do not join the workers on the shop floor, work, study and live with them and modestly learn one or more skills from them, then they will find themselves locked in acute class struggle with the working class all their lives and in the end are bound to he overthrown as bourgeois by the working class. If they don't learn any technical skills and remain outsiders for a long time, they won't be able to do management well cither. Those in the dark are in no position to light the way for others." Chairman Mao also stated: "Those lead in cadres who are taking the capitalist road have turned, or are turning, into bourgeois elements sucking the blood of the workers; how can they possibly realize fully the imperative need for socialist revolution? These people are the target of the struggle, the target of the revolution, and we must never rely on them in the socialist education movement. We can rely only on those cadres who are not hostile to the workers and arc imbued with revolutionary spirit.** This directive of Chairman Mao's and his important instructions during the Great Cultural Revolution, particularly those issued since the start of the struggle against the Right deviationist attempt, penetratingly expose the class nature of such Party capitalist-roaders as Liu Shao-chi, Lin Piao and Teng Hsiao-ping and analyse the characteristics and origin of the bourgeoisie in the Party as well as the ways to defeat it. These instructions are of tremendous immediate importance and of far-reaching historic significance to our perseverance in continuing the revolution under the dictatorship of the proletariat. All comrades in the Party, especially the leading cadres, should conscientiously study and grasp them and draw profound lessons from them. In socialist society, classes, class contradictions and class struggle still exist, and essentially the relations among people are still class relations. We can maintain the character of our Party as the vanguard of the proletariat only when we recognise the existence of the bourgeoisie inside the Party, soberly understand that the capitalist-roaders arc the main force endangering the Party and subverting the dictatorship of the proletariat, and continuously carry out the revolution against the bourgeoisie inside the Party. Only thus can our Party lead the proletariat and other revolutionary masses in successfully carrying out our country's socialist revolution and construction and, together with the revolutionary people the world over, in carrying the struggle against imperialism, revisionism and reaction through to the end and waging a common struggle for the emancipation of all mankind. The Chinese Communist Party is a great, glorious and correct party, a party armed with Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tsetung Thought. The overwhelming majority of our Party members and cadres represented by Comrade Mao Tsetung, the great leader of our Party, persist in serving the people wholeheartedly, are one with the workers, peasants and soldiers, and are resolute in their struggle against the bourgeoisie. Many outstanding Party members have played an exemplary vanguard role, advancing in the front ranks of the three great revolutionary movements of class struggle, the struggle for production and scientific experiment and leading the masses in heroic struggle. But there is no denying that the bourgeoisie does exist inside the Party. As Chairman Mao has pointed out, among a part of the Party membership, some have already changed, some are changing, and others may change if they cease being vigilant. As for those who had committed the errors characteristic of the capitalist-roaders, most of them recognized their errors with the help of the Party and the masses during the Great Cultural Revolution, learnt lessons and are continuing to advance along the road of revolution. But there are also people like Teng Hsiao-ping who cling to their errors and become unrepentant capitalist-roaders. Our comrades must bear in mind Chairman Mao's teachings and persevere in continuing the revolution under the dictatorship of the proletariat. They should maintain close lies with the masses, take an active part in collective productive labour, warmly support the new socialist things, and strive for new achievements in all socialist endeavours. They should keep to the style of plain living and hard struggle, resist bourgeois corrosion, and consciously restrict bourgeois right. They should, in the course of struggle, conscientiously study Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tsetung Thought, remould their world outlook and strive to be true Party members ideologically. At present, we must concentrate on criticizing Teng Hsiao-ping and deepen the struggle against the Right deviationist attempt to reverse correct verdicts. The essential political characteristic of the capitalist-roaders is that they pursue the revisionist line. In our struggle against them, the most important question to solve is that of political line, i.e., to use the Marxist line to defeat their counter-revolutionary revisionist line. Communist Party members, particularly leading cadres, must take a firm and clear-cut stand, march in the van of the struggle, and go through tests and temper themselves. They must energetically lead the masses in combating Teng Hsiao-ping's revisionist line in connection with the concrete class struggle and two-line struggle on the various fronts. With regard to those comrades who have made mistakes, the principle of "learning from past mistakes to avoid future ones and curing the sickness to save the patient" should be applied. Party organisations at all levels should take the initiative to strengthen Party building ideologically and organizationally in the course of struggle. Our Party is led by the Central Committee with our great leader Chairman Mao at its head and guided by his proletarian revolutionary line, and the masses of Party members persevere in continuing the revolution and are opposed to restoration and retrogression; it is worthy of being the core of leadership of the whole Chinese people and the mainstay of the socialist cause. The fact that we dare to expose the bourgeoisie inside the Party shows that our Party has the strength, confidence and ability to defeat it and thereby bring the entire bourgeoisie to utter defeat. The emergence of capitalist-roaders inside the Party in no way obscures our Party's radiance. Isn't it true that the Kunlun Mountains still stand and have not fallen despite the emergence of Liu Shao-chi and company? Isn't it true that Mount Lushan still stands and has not been levelled flat despite the emergence of the Lin Piao anti-Party clique? And today, despite the emergence of Teng Hsiao-ping and the riot staged at Tien An Men Square by the handful of counter-revolutionaries, Tien An Men, now that their scheme has been smashed, looks all the more magnificent. Historical experience has over and over again shown that it is not easy to crush our Party. As Chairman Mao has definitely declared, "This Party of ours has a bright future."